Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index – Consumer comfort fell last week for the first time in more than a month, ending its best quarter since the last U.S. recession began almost seven years ago. The index fell to 36.4, after averaging 35.8 from April through June.

Mortgage Rates

According to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released by Freddie Mac, average fixed-rate mortgage rates were mostly unchanged heading into the holiday weekend.

30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) averaged 4.12% with an average 0.5 point for the week ending July 3, 2014, down from last week when they averaged 4.14%. A year ago at this time, 30-year FRMs averaged 4.29%.

15-year FRMs this week averaged 3.22% with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, 15-year FRMs averaged 3.39%.

15-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 2.98% this week with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.10%.

1-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 2.38% this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.40%. At this time last year, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.66%.

Equity Market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through 17,000 for the first time. It ended the week up 92.02 points, or 0.54%. The S&P 500 finished up 0.55%, while the NASDAQ closed at 4,485.93.

The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development report that housing starts are down from last month. However, housing is still at an above-norm level due to long-term rates being low.

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